Speakers at a seminar highlighted the problems being faced by the Afghan refugees, especially women and children, in Pakistan. The seminar on "Refugee women and children: the courage to survive" was organised by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee and the Chief Commissioner for Afghan Refugees Pakistan here, on Wednesday.
Margriat Veenma, Jane Frances Nankaayi and Kristine Hambrouk from the UNHCR, Arshad Aziz from NRC Peshawar, Aslam Denarzai from Danesh, Khalida Saleemi from SACH, Katyon from IRC and a number of other speakers addressed the seminar.
They thoroughly reviewed and highlighted the plight of refugee children and women in Pakistan.
They said that despite the efforts of the Government of Pakistan and UNHCR the Afghan refugees are still facing a number of basic problems. Mostly, the women and children are vulnerable to child labour and sexual abuse, the speakers said.
It was also pointed out that most of the Afghan refugees want to go home, however, there are numerous challenges, which still persists in Afghanistan forcing them to stay in other countries.
Empowerment of these refugees was also discussed and it was agreed that women and children should be provided access to education, health and other basic facilities.
They also gave due importance to proper documentation of refugees to know their problems.
The speakers also expressed concerns over child labour and selling of women and children for prostitution.